Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy confronted White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for apparently blaming the crime spike in major U.S. cities on Republicans.
Doocy’s question referenced three armed assailants reportedly carjacking Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington D.C. on Monday night. Jean-Pierre credited pieces of legislation President Joe Biden passed that reportedly allocated funding to add more law enforcement officers and accused Republicans of not helping by voting against the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act.
“Well my first follow up would be how are you gonna blame Republicans for this? Isn’t D.C. run by a bunch of Democrats?” Doocy asked.
“I’m gonna speak to what the president has done,” Jean-Pierre replied. “The president has been very, very straightforward about what he has done to make sure communities are safe. The American Rescue Plan, not one Republican in Congress voted for it. Not one. There were billions of dollars in that plan, in that act, to make sure communities across the country got funding so they can indeed hire more police officers so that they can keep their communities safe. Republicans had nothing to do with that. They were not involved in that. They decided not to vote on the American Rescue Plan. That’s just a fact.”
“So if President Biden’s policies are helping bring crime down, would he be comfortable with somebody borrowing his Corvette and parking it on the street overnight in Southeast D.C.?” Doocy asked. (RELATED: Doocy Asks KJP If Biden Would Ever Consider Pulling A Fire Alarm To Escape Meeting)
“I’m not gonna get into hypotheticals. I’m just gonna get into the facts about what this president has done in this presidency,” the press secretary said.
Doocy then asked, who is safe on the streets of D.C. if Cuellar or any other member of Congress apparently isn’t? The press secretary said the White House is “grateful” Cuellar is unharmed and they understand what communities across the country are dealing with.
Three assailants allegedly carjacked Cuellar at gunpoint as he attempted to park his vehicle at his residence Monday night. Cuellar told reporters Tuesday he had to “keep calm” in the situation and allowed the armed perpetrators to take the car.
The Metropolitan Police Department and Capitol Police recovered the vehicle and all of his other belongings, including his phone and sushi, within about two hours, Cuellar told reporters.